Chandigarh Police Encounter: 3rd Accused Held; 2 were Shot by Police in Sector 11 Murder Case
Chandigarh Police encounter: Aryan and Sunny Mehra, arrested for the Sector 11 pharmacy murder of cashier Janki Das, were injured in a police encounter in Dhanas after an alleged escape attempt. The third accused has been arrested too.
North Desk Correspondent
Chandigarh, June 18 (Updated June 19)
Five days after cashier Janki Das was shot dead at a Sector 11 pharmacy, the case has taken a dramatic turn: two men arrested for the killing were shot and injured by police, hours after being brought to the city.
According to police sources, Aryan and Sunny Mehra — tracked down after a three-day, multi-state manhunt to Rajouri in Jammu & Kashmir — were being escorted to the Crime Branch office on Wednesday night when they allegedly attempted to escape near the Dhanas forest road, close to the Panjab University boundary. Police personnel escorting them opened fire, injuring both. They were admitted to Government Multi-Speciality Hospital, Sector 16, for treatment.
The operation was carried out jointly by the Crime Branch and Operation Cell of Chandigarh Police.
What Police Are Saying — and What They Are Not
Chandigarh Police encounter: Sources have claimed that Sunny Mehra was the one who fired the 13 rounds that killed Janki Das inside Shri Kumar Medical Hall on June 13 — but Chandigarh Police have not officially confirmed this. Crucially, the weapon used in the killing has still not been recovered, raising questions about how firmly the “shooter” identification can be made at this stage.
Third arrest
The prime suspect, Amit Kumar, was nabbed by local police near Samba in J-K on Thursday. Police sources said the arrest was expected to reveal the complete conspiracy behind the crime, including possible links with organised criminal networks and extortion activities.
While all three have been arrested, the police is yet to answer what the motive of crime was. There is still no confirmed word on whether the attack was linked to extortion threats previously reported against Kumar Brothers outlets in the same market, or whether it connects to Chandigarh’s wider gang-extortion landscape.
The Manhunt That Preceded the Encounter
Aryan and Sunny Mehra were traced after what police describe as an intensive three-day operation involving teams from multiple states. CCTV footage had earlier shown the attackers arriving in the city on a stolen motorcycle bearing a Punjab registration number, and investigators reconstructed their escape route from camera feeds across the city in the days immediately after the killing.
A Story Still Open
For Janki Das’s family in Rohru, and for his wife Ina Machret — who had just been elected gram panchayat pradhan when her husband was killed — Thursday’s encounter offers no closure. Two men are now hospitalised and in custody. A third remains free. The gun that killed Janki Das has not been found. And the question his family asked from day one — why him — still has no answer on record.
North Desk will continue to follow this case.
READ: Haryana Police Brutality: Dalit Advocate Stripped, Cops Held Gun To His Head; HC Monitors Case
Follow North Desk on WhatsApp for the latest from Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vb7ccdxJENy2H87DBG3E
One Comment